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Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of the Free State, analyzing Paul’s model of atonement in Galatians. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013), a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013), and Praying in God's Theater, Meditations on the Book of Revelation (Wipf and Stock, 2014).

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So, does this mean God also died the Day the Music Died in a certain field near Clear Lake, Iowa? If so, that means February 3, 1959 A.D./C.E. was a significant calendar reset! Somehow, the calendar makers seemed to have missed that. Wonder why no one’s baked Don McLean’s American Pie?
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Meanwhile, fastidious adherents of latter day monotheism make some curious assumptions. Of course, chief among them is that there is a singular supreme being. Then, sticking to the Big 3, followers of a seemingly popular Bronze Age Middle Eastern tribal deity (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) believe that their brand name religion is the correct one. An even greater leap of faith occurs in subscribing to the notion that one’s particular subset of that religion is the only correct version.
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Next, there comes the assumption of the great payoff in the sky when one dies. While the most ludicrous example of this is the notorious the promise of 70 virgins, most probably 70 “huries” or spouses, in the afterlife in exchange blowing one’s self to smithereens in order to kill or maim those not disposed to accept one’s belief system, the promise of an exaggerated reward in the end is the bait of most scams. This fact is so well known as to often make it illegal except in the promises made in education, state-sanctioned lotteries, and religion!
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The primary appeal of atheism seems to be that it frees one from the shackles of a cookie cutter religious doctrine. Free thinking has much in common with the natural order of the world. For example, whereas nature is disposed to sow pine trees among oaks and maples, humankind tends to plant crops in rows to simplify the harvesting thereof. By the same token, it seems to matter little whether one visits a church, mosque, or temple, one finds crop-like rows of the faithful kneeling or sitting like crops waiting for the Great Harvester. Many seem to be living in the next life before being finished with this one. Small wonder they are willing to go out with a Big Bang!!!
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Unlike those addicted to religious prescriptions, atheists seem to be more comfortable with the mysteries of this life. Not only do they not have to know all the answers, they are much less concerned with having no place to go after being dressed by an undertaker! In turn, this frees them to explore new avenues of intellectual inquiry in this life. Although some simply prefer to be happy rather than right, it is worth pointing out that much of what passes for scientific knowledge these days began with those willing to risk life and limb to circumvent rigid religious authorities. Among them were witches dabbling in those concoctions later generations would know as medications. Likewise, some grave robbers gave the world the science of anatomy. Those currently working with stem cells are following in their footsteps.